PORTLAND — Haddam-Killingworth’s boys soccer team is rounding into tournament shape.
With the Shoreline Conference and CIAC state tournaments looming, H-K won for the 10th time in 13 tries, beating Portland 3-1 in an SLC match at Portland High on Tuesday.
“I think we played OK,” understated H-K coach Denis Recchia. “This was the last game that counts for the SLC playoffs and depending how other games go, we’re looking to nail down the No. 2 seed in the league playoffs and get a home game.
“We expect to do great things in both the league and state tournaments.”
The statistics show that the Cougars played a little bit better than OK. H-K had 20 shots on goal to Portland’s three and Cougars keeper Jack Spooner was called on to make just one save.
Meanwhile Portland keeper Bryan Dinnis had a busy afternoon, making 13 saves, several of them good ones.
“H-K is a strong team,” said Portland coach Joe Santavenere. “They have guys up top who are solid. But we’re a young team and my keeper had a very good game. He’s only a sophomore and he’s getting better all the time.”
It took H-K only 90 seconds to get on the board when Kyle Crandall scored off a corner kick. The Cougars made it 2-0 when Ben McLaughlin scored on a penalty kick with 23:13 left in the half.
Despite being dominated both in the stat book and in field position, Portland made it interesting when Christian Bond scored with 18:46 left before the break. It was Portland’s first shot of the game.
With four minutes left in the half, Portland dodged one when a rocket by H-K banged off the right post. The winners sealed the deal with 25:04 left in the game when McLaughlin scored his second goal of the afternoon.
“Besides the guys who scored, I thought that Gabriel Mangiafico played very well,” said Recchia. “He controls the middle of the field for us and he did that today.”
Portland slipped under .500 to 6-7-1 with the loss while H-K improved to 10-2-1.
Portland, which has lost four in a row, is home with Lyman Memorial Saturday morning at 11. H-K plays at Waterford Thursday at 7 p.m.
H-K 3, Portland 1
|
H-K |
2 |
1 |
— |
3 |
|
Portland |
1 |
0 |
— |
1 |
Goals: (H-K) Kyle Crandall, Ben McLaughlin 2 (P) Christian Bond.
Shots: (H-K) 20 (P) 3.
Saves: (H-K) Jack Spooner 1 (P) Bryan Dinnis 13.
Records: H-K 10-3-1, Portland 6-7-1.
